Social media based weighted route selection

ABSTRACT

A method, system, and computer program product for social media based weighted route selection are provided in the illustrative embodiments. It is detected that a first route and a second route are possible between two places. A first set of points of interest (POIs) is identified relative to the first route. By accessing a social media source, a set of social information is collected comprising information related to a POI. A subset of the social information is organized into a set of categories related to the POI. Each information in the subset is assigned a corresponding weight to compute a value for each information. A total value of each POI is determined using the computed values. From the first route and the second route, that route as presented as socially preferred route which has a higher total route value.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates generally to a method, system, andcomputer program product for determining or selecting a route betweentwo or more geographical locations. More particularly, the presentinvention relates to a method, system, and computer program product forsocial media based weighted route selection.

BACKGROUND

A variety of solutions exists today for finding routing or navigationinformation for traveling from one place to another. Some of thesesolutions use native mapping applications and map databases that arelocally resident on a user's computer or device and can operate withoutaccess to a data network. Other routing solutions use mappingapplications that communicate with a server over a data network toobtain the routing information.

Regardless of the type of routing solution, a presently availablerouting solution is capable of providing one or more route choices orrouting options, given an origin and destination information. Manyrouting solutions compute the routes based on user's preferences such asthe types of roads used in the route, toll usage, shortest time ordistance preference, or routes formed by omitting prohibited areas.These map-specific preferences used in the prior art are hereinafterreferred to as cartographic preferences.

Often, a presently available routing solution does not give the userrouting choices, but chooses one or many possible routes based on theabove-described cartographic preferences. Even if a routing solutionwere to present multiple routing choices to the user, the choices wouldonly be selectable based on one or more of the above-describedcartographic preferences.

SUMMARY

The illustrative embodiments provide a method, system, and computerprogram product for social media based weighted route selection. Anembodiment includes a method for social media based weighted routeselection. The embodiment detects, in an application using a processorand a memory, that a first route and a second route are possible betweentwo places. The embodiment identifies, relative to the first route, afirst set of points of interest (POIs). The embodiment collects, byaccessing a social media source, a set of social information, whereinthe set of social information comprises information related to a pointof interest (POI) in the set of POIs, wherein the information is sharedwith the user in a social group at the social media source, wherein theuser is a member of the social group. The embodiment organizes a subsetof the set of social information into a set of categories related to thePOI. The embodiment assigns each information in the subset of socialinformation a corresponding weight to compute a value corresponding toeach information. The embodiment determines, using the computed values,a total value of each POI in the first set of POIs. The embodimentpresents, from the first route and the second route, that route associally preferred route which has a higher total route value, a totalroute value of the first route comprising a sum of total values of eachPOI in the first set of POIs.

Another embodiment includes a computer program product for social mediabased weighted route selection. The embodiment further includes one ormore computer-readable tangible storage devices. The embodiment furtherincludes program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or morestorage devices, to detect, in an application using a processor and amemory, that a first route and a second route are possible between twoplaces. The embodiment further includes program instructions, stored onat least one of the one or more storage devices, to identify, relativeto the first route, a first set of points of interest (POIs). Theembodiment further includes program instructions, stored on at least oneof the one or more storage devices, to collect, by accessing a socialmedia source, a set of social information, wherein the set of socialinformation comprises information related to a point of interest (POI)in the set of POIs, wherein the information is shared with the user in asocial group at the social media source, wherein the user is a member ofthe social group. The embodiment further includes program instructions,stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices, to organize asubset of the set of social information into a set of categories relatedto the POI. The embodiment further includes program instructions, storedon at least one of the one or more storage devices, to assign eachinformation in the subset of social information a corresponding weightto compute a value corresponding to each information. The embodimentfurther includes program instructions, stored on at least one of the oneor more storage devices, to determine, using the computed values, atotal value of each POI in the first set of POIs. The embodiment furtherincludes program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or morestorage devices, to present, from the first route and the second route,that route as socially preferred route which has a higher total routevalue, a total route value of the first route comprising a sum of totalvalues of each POI in the first set of POIs.

Another embodiment includes a computer system for social media basedweighted route selection. The embodiment further includes one or moreprocessors, one or more computer-readable memories and one or morecomputer-readable storage devices. The embodiment further includesprogram instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storagedevices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors viaat least one of the one or more memories, to detect, in an applicationusing a processor and a memory, that a first route and a second routeare possible between two places. The embodiment further includes programinstructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devicesfor execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at leastone of the one or more memories, to identify, relative to the firstroute, a first set of points of interest (POIs). The embodiment furtherincludes program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or morestorage devices for execution by at least one of the one or moreprocessors via at least one of the one or more memories, to collect, byaccessing a social media source, a set of social information, whereinthe set of social information comprises information related to a pointof interest (POI) in the set of POIs, wherein the information is sharedwith the user in a social group at the social media source, wherein theuser is a member of the social group. The embodiment further includesprogram instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storagedevices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors viaat least one of the one or more memories, to organize a subset of theset of social information into a set of categories related to the POI.The embodiment further includes program instructions, stored on at leastone of the one or more storage devices for execution by at least one ofthe one or more processors via at least one of the one or more memories,to assign each information in the subset of social information acorresponding weight to compute a value corresponding to eachinformation. The embodiment further includes program instructions,stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices for executionby at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of theone or more memories, to determine, using the computed values, a totalvalue of each POI in the first set of POIs. The embodiment furtherincludes program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or morestorage devices for execution by at least one of the one or moreprocessors via at least one of the one or more memories, to present,from the first route and the second route, that route as sociallypreferred route which has a higher total route value, a total routevalue of the first route comprising a sum of total values of each POI inthe first set of POIs.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

The novel features believed characteristic of the invention are setforth in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, as well asa preferred mode of use, further objectives and advantages thereof, willbest be understood by reference to the following detailed description ofthe illustrative embodiments when read in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 depicts a block diagram of a network of data processing systemsin which illustrative embodiments may be implemented;

FIG. 2 depicts a block diagram of a data processing system in whichillustrative embodiments may be implemented;

FIG. 3 depicts a map with an example social media based weighted routeselection in accordance with an illustrative embodiment;

FIG. 4 depicts a manner of presenting an album of relevant socialinformation related to a POI in accordance with an illustrativeembodiment;

FIG. 5 depicts a block diagram of another example manner of collecting auser's social preferences and choices in accordance with an illustrativeembodiment; and

FIG. 6 depicts a flowchart of an example process for social media basedweighted route selection in accordance with an illustrative embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The illustrative embodiments recognize that the presently availablerouting solutions do not allow the user to leverage user's socialnetwork in route selection. For example, the illustrative embodimentsrecognize that users often value the opinions of their acquaintancesmore than or at least comparable to information available from strangersor websites. The illustrative embodiments also recognize that people ofsimilar tastes, interests, and choices often group together on socialnetworks and social media sites (collectively and interchangeablyhereinafter “social media” or “social network”).

Thus, the illustrative embodiments recognize that when a user isplanning to travel or to undertake a journey using a route, the usermight want to incorporate into the planning pertinent information aboutthe route that might be available to the user from the user's socialnetwork. For example, one or more friends in the user's social networkmay have opinions, critique, thoughts, suggestions, recommendations,comments, pictures, videos, and other similar information about theplaces the user is likely to come across or pass-through on a route(collectively hereinafter, “social information”).

Furthermore, the illustrative embodiments recognize that socialinformation may be available from a social network or a similarlyselected source about all or a part of a route. Additionally, more thanone social network may provide social information about a portion of aroute.

For example, if the user is planning a trip between Dusseldorf, Germany,and Paris, France, the user might have members of the user's socialnetwork who may have made all or part of the same journey using all orpart of the route proposed by a prior-art routing solution. For example,some members might be a part of the user's foodie social network, somemembers might be a part of the user's outdoors adventures socialnetwork, others may be members with friends with broader similarinterests, and so on. The members of the foodie social network may havepictures, comments, notes, critique, suggestions, and the like aboutrestaurants and bistros along a route. The members of the outdoorsadventures might have pictures and comments from a hiking trip at, from,to, or near a place on the route. A friend might have children, like theuser, and may have advice about children-specific stops along the routefrom personal experience.

The illustrative embodiments recognize that this type of socialinformation is important in route planning. Furthermore, depending uponthe social information is available for a routing choice and otherfactors, the user's route selection might be swayed in favor of adifferent route choice than the route selected by a prior-art routingsolution.

The illustrative embodiments used to describe the invention generallyaddress and solve the above-described problems and other problemsrelated to selecting a route between two or more places. Theillustrative embodiments provide a method, system, and computer programproduct for social media based weighted route selection.

Many social information factors about places or points of interests(collectively “point(s) of interest” or “POI(s)”) on a route can affecta user's route selection. Some example factors related to socialinformation about POIs include but are not limited to an amount of thesocial information available for POIs on a route, type of the socialinformation, quality of the social information, relevance or weight ofthat social information to a user's purpose or objective for using thatroute, static or transient nature of the social information, age of thesocial information, and so on. From this disclosure, those of ordinaryskill in the art will be able to conceive many other factors associatedwith social information about POIs on a route, and the same arecontemplated within the scope of the illustrative embodiments.

An embodiment for social media based weighted route selection can beimplemented as an application to execute in a data processing system.Some embodiments are configurable for executing in an application at adata processing system that operates a routing application as a server,to receive routing requests from client data processing systems over adata network. Some other embodiments are configurable for executing inan application at a data processing system that operates a mappingapplication as a client, and sends routing requests to a server dataprocessing system over a data network.

Some other embodiments are configurable for executing in an applicationat a data processing system that operates a native mapping applicationwithout requiring a data network and without making routing requests toa server over a data network. In some cases, an embodiment can bepartially implemented at a server as a first application, and partiallyat a client as a second application, the two applications operating inconjunction to provide a functionality described herein. Whether or nota prior-art routing application or mapping application operating inconjunction with an embodiment requires a data network, the embodimentuses a data network to obtain social information as described herein.

An embodiment detects that a route either has been, or is ready to bepresented to the user, such as from a prior-art routing solution. Theembodiment identifies a set of POIs along the presented route.

The embodiment searches social media used by the user for informationabout the POIs. For example, given a user's social groups at aparticular social media site, the embodiment searches the informationthat is shared with the user in those social groups and is related toone or more POIs on the route, the route as a whole, a starting point ora destination on the route, or a combination thereof. The embodimentcollects such social information.

An embodiment uses a hierarchy to organize the social informationcollected about POIs. For example, a place has several categories ofthings, experiences, or activities to offer. A category, e.g., acategory of activities includes several specific activities. In otherwords, the hierarchy to organize the collected social information, inits simplest form, has the place at the root node, with categories ofinformation as children nodes of the root node, and specific socialinformation about that place within a category forming a leaf node undera particular category node.

This simple example of a hierarchy is only used to describe certainoperations of certain embodiments. The above-described simple hierarchyis not intended to be limiting on the illustrative embodiments. Fromthis disclosure, those of ordinary skill in the art will be able toconceive other hierarchies for organizing the social informationcollected by an embodiment and the same are contemplated within thescope of the illustrative embodiments.

Any number and type of specific social information can be organizedunder the root node or an intermediate parent node. For example, apicture from a friend of a museum exhibit at a POI and a comment from afellow hiker about a waterfall close to the POI can both be specificsocial information under the root node of the place of the POI. Howeverthe picture and the comment may be categorized commonly or differentlydepending upon the categories formed or selected by the user. Forexample, in one instance, the picture might be commonly categorizedunder a category called “activities”. In another instance, the picturemight be categorized under a category called “art” and the comment mightbe categorized under another category called “outdoors”.

An album is a collection of specific social information. An album abouta category at a place includes at least some specific social informationthat has been organized by an embodiment under that category for thatplace. An album about a place includes all albums about all categoriesunder that place that are populated with at least some specific socialinformation. Essentially, an album at a parent node in a hierarchyincludes all albums that include at least some specific socialinformation and are associated with a child node thereunder.

Accordingly, a place or a category or sub-category thereunder can havezero, one, or more than one albums associated therewith. An embodimentassociates an album with a POI on the route. An album can include anytype and number of social information, such as, but not limited to,pictures, audio files, video files, and textual content.

A user may have certain preferences other than cartographic preferences.For example, the user may be interested in museums more than outdoorsactivities, and may not be interested in children's activities at all.Furthermore, depending upon an objective of the trip for which the routeis going to be used, the user might be interested in different thingsduring different instances of the same route. Similarly, different usersmight be interested in different things on the same route.

Therefore, an embodiment allows a user to configure how the albums arecreated, and how the albums affects the desirability of a particularroute give a plurality of possible routes. A weight is a measure ofrelevance of a given information to an objective or preference. Forexample, a business user's highest concern about a POI on a route is theavailability of good hotels, and followed by availability of desirablefood choices, and not at all about the available child-care options toathletic options. A family planning a vacation trip probably would rankchildren's activities the highest, food and accommodations next, andhistorical sites last.

Using an embodiment, a user can overtly or impliedly indicate a purposeor objective for which the route is going to be used. For example, theuser can select a preference level for certain categories of informationabout the POI on a scale. The embodiment converts the selectedpreference level to a weight that is associated with those categories.Similarly, the user can indicate or configure relative preferences forcertain categories of social information (social preferences).

An embodiment can further automatically adjust certain weights based onthe circumstances of the proposed travel. For example, depending upon atime of travel, some categories of social information might not beuseful to the user even if the user is interested in those categories.

As an example, if the user is to pass through a POI at midnight or on agovernment holiday, a particular museum might not be open even if theuser is otherwise interested in museums. As another example, even if theuser is interested in music concerts, a social information about a pastconcert at a POI is unlikely to be useful to the user.

Accordingly, an embodiment can automatically adjust a weight, byincreasing or decreasing the user-assigned weight, to accommodateconditions of travel, expected circumstances, static or temporary natureof certain specific social information, and other similarly purposedconsiderations.

Generally, within the scope of the illustrative embodiments, a weightcan be associated with any node on the hierarchy in which the collectedsocial information is organized. For example, a weight can be associatedwith a POI, a category, or a specific type of social information. Forexample, the user may prefer social information with pictures to textualsocial information.

Once the weighting is available for certain POIs, categories, or typesof specific social information, an embodiment computes a total weight ofan album. For example, suppose a given instance of social information isan image, audio, or video information. This type of information, andeven some textual comments, has metadata that is descriptive of alocation where the information was captured or entered, and what theinformation describes. An embodiment parses the metadata to identify alocation, content significance, age, relevance to a category, and othersimilarly purposed information usable for categorizing the given socialinformation. The embodiment uses the parsed information to categorizethe given social information.

As another example, suppose a given instance of social information istextual data, or another type of data without metadata that is usable inthe above-described fashion. An embodiment uses Natural LanguageProcessing (NLP), image recognition, and other known techniques toidentify a location, content significance, age, and relevance to acategory, and other similarly purposed information usable forcategorizing the given social information. The embodiment uses theparsed information to categorize the given social information.

Knowing the weights of each album associated with a node in thehierarchy, the embodiment computes the total weight of all albumsassociated with a node in the hierarchy, and regards the total weight asa weight of that node. For example, if a category of social informationhas two albums with weights 10 and 12 associated therewith, theembodiment computes the weight of the category as 22, given the specificsocial information collected from the user's social media groups.Likewise, if a POI has three categories with weights 9, 13, and 17associated therewith, the weight of the POI becomes 39.

The combined weight of all POIs is an indication of the volume ofrelevant social information available in relation with each route choicethe user has. For example, suppose that routes A and B are twoalternative routes available between the user's selected origin anddestination. A prior art routing solution may indicate that route A isshorter than route B according to the user's cartographic preferences.In contrast, an embodiment informs the user that route A has a totalweight of 53 whereas route B has a total weight of 89 according to theuser's social preferences because route B has more relevant socialinformation at the POIs on route B as compared to route A.

A method of an embodiment described herein, when implemented to executeon a device or data processing system, comprises substantial advancementof the functionality of that device or data processing system in socialmedia based weighted route selection. For example, where prior-art failsto recognize the user's social preferences and reliance on socialinformation in route selection, an embodiment incorporates the user'ssocial preferences and social information into the route selectionprocess. Operating in a manner described herein, an embodiment allows auser a choice of route that better fits the user's purpose, likes ordislikes, circumstances, or expectations from a trip as compared to aroute selected by a prior-art routing solution based only oncartographic preferences. Such manner of route selection is unavailablein presently available devices or data processing systems. Thus, asubstantial advancement of such devices or data processing systems byexecuting a method of an embodiment improves the usefulness andpertinence of route selection in a context contemplated by the user.

The illustrative embodiments are described with respect to certainsolutions, routes, social media, preferences, categories, hierarchies,weights, values, calculations, metadata, parsing or informationextraction techniques, devices, data processing systems, environments,components, and applications only as examples. Any specificmanifestations of these and other similar artifacts are not intended tobe limiting to the invention. Any suitable manifestation of these andother similar artifacts can be selected within the scope of theillustrative embodiments.

Furthermore, the illustrative embodiments may be implemented withrespect to any type of data, data source, or access to a data sourceover a data network. Any type of data storage device may provide thedata to an embodiment of the invention, either locally at a dataprocessing system or over a data network, within the scope of theinvention. Where an embodiment is described using a mobile device, anytype of data storage device suitable for use with the mobile device mayprovide the data to such embodiment, either locally at the mobile deviceor over a data network, within the scope of the illustrativeembodiments.

The illustrative embodiments are described using specific code, designs,architectures, protocols, layouts, schematics, and tools only asexamples and are not limiting to the illustrative embodiments.Furthermore, the illustrative embodiments are described in someinstances using particular software, tools, and data processingenvironments only as an example for the clarity of the description. Theillustrative embodiments may be used in conjunction with othercomparable or similarly purposed structures, systems, applications, orarchitectures. For example, other comparable mobile devices, structures,systems, applications, or architectures therefor, may be used inconjunction with such embodiment of the invention within the scope ofthe invention. An illustrative embodiment may be implemented inhardware, software, or a combination thereof.

The examples in this disclosure are used only for the clarity of thedescription and are not limiting to the illustrative embodiments.Additional data, operations, actions, tasks, activities, andmanipulations will be conceivable from this disclosure and the same arecontemplated within the scope of the illustrative embodiments.

Any advantages listed herein are only examples and are not intended tobe limiting to the illustrative embodiments. Additional or differentadvantages may be realized by specific illustrative embodiments.Furthermore, a particular illustrative embodiment may have some, all, ornone of the advantages listed above.

With reference to the figures and in particular with reference to FIGS.1 and 2, these figures are example diagrams of data processingenvironments in which illustrative embodiments may be implemented. FIGS.1 and 2 are only examples and are not intended to assert or imply anylimitation with regard to the environments in which differentembodiments may be implemented. A particular implementation may makemany modifications to the depicted environments based on the followingdescription.

FIG. 1 depicts a block diagram of a network of data processing systemsin which illustrative embodiments may be implemented. Data processingenvironment 100 is a network of computers in which the illustrativeembodiments may be implemented. Data processing environment 100 includesnetwork 102. Network 102 is the medium used to provide communicationslinks between various devices and computers connected together withindata processing environment 100. Network 102 may include connections,such as wire, wireless communication links, or fiber optic cables.

Clients or servers are only example roles of certain data processingsystems connected to network 102 and are not intended to exclude otherconfigurations or roles for these data processing systems. Server 104and server 106 couple to network 102 along with storage unit 108.Software applications may execute on any computer in data processingenvironment 100. Clients 110, 112, and 114 are also coupled to network102. A data processing system, such as server 104 or 106, or client 110,112, or 114 may contain data and may have software applications orsoftware tools executing thereon.

Only as an example, and without implying any limitation to sucharchitecture, FIG. 1 depicts certain components that are usable in anexample implementation of an embodiment. For example, servers 104 and106, and clients 110, 112, 114, are depicted as servers and clients onlyas example and not to imply a limitation to a client-serverarchitecture. As another example, an embodiment can be distributedacross several data processing systems and a data network as shown,whereas another embodiment can be implemented on a single dataprocessing system within the scope of the illustrative embodiments. Dataprocessing systems 104, 106, 110, 112, and 114 also represent examplenodes in a cluster, partitions, and other configurations suitable forimplementing an embodiment.

Device 132 is an example of a device described herein. For example,device 132 can take the form of a smartphone, a tablet computer, alaptop computer, client 110 in a stationary or a portable form, awearable computing device, or any other suitable device that can beconfigured for requesting entity reviews and analysis reports. Mappingapplication 136 is an example client-side application capable ofcommunicating with one or more routing applications on a server, such asrouting application 103 in server 104. Mapping application 111 may be anative mapping application and operates in conjunction with application113 on client 112 as described herein. Routing application 103 on server104 operates to receive routing requests, such as from mappingapplication 136, and to respond to such requests with one or more routchoices, such as by sending routing information to mapping application136. Application 105 implements certain embodiments that can beconfigured to operate on server-side, such as to operate in conjunctionwith routing application 103 on server 104. Social media server 107 onserver 106 is an example social media site from which application 134 or113 can collect specific social information as described herein.

Servers 104 and 106, storage unit 108, and clients 110, 112, and 114 maycouple to network 102 using wired connections, wireless communicationprotocols, or other suitable data connectivity. Clients 110, 112, and114 may be, for example, personal computers or network computers.

In the depicted example, server 104 may provide data, such as bootfiles, operating system images, and applications to clients 110, 112,and 114. Clients 110, 112, and 114 may be clients to server 104 in thisexample. Clients 110, 112, 114, or some combination thereof, may includetheir own data, boot files, operating system images, and applications.Data processing environment 100 may include additional servers, clients,and other devices that are not shown.

In the depicted example, data processing environment 100 may be theInternet. Network 102 may represent a collection of networks andgateways that use the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol(TCP/IP) and other protocols to communicate with one another. At theheart of the Internet is a backbone of data communication links betweenmajor nodes or host computers, including thousands of commercial,governmental, educational, and other computer systems that route dataand messages. Of course, data processing environment 100 also may beimplemented as a number of different types of networks, such as forexample, an intranet, a local area network (LAN), or a wide area network(WAN). FIG. 1 is intended as an example, and not as an architecturallimitation for the different illustrative embodiments.

Among other uses, data processing environment 100 may be used forimplementing a client-server environment in which the illustrativeembodiments may be implemented. A client-server environment enablessoftware applications and data to be distributed across a network suchthat an application functions by using the interactivity between aclient data processing system and a server data processing system. Dataprocessing environment 100 may also employ a service orientedarchitecture where interoperable software components distributed acrossa network may be packaged together as coherent business applications.

With reference to FIG. 2, this figure depicts a block diagram of a dataprocessing system in which illustrative embodiments may be implemented.Data processing system 200 is an example of a computer, such as servers104 and 106, or clients 110, 112, and 114 in FIG. 1, or another type ofdevice in which computer usable program code or instructionsimplementing the processes may be located for the illustrativeembodiments.

Data processing system 200 is also representative of a data processingsystem or a configuration therein, such as data processing system 132 inFIG. 1 in which computer usable program code or instructionsimplementing the processes of the illustrative embodiments may belocated. Data processing system 200 is described as a computer only asan example, without being limited thereto. Implementations in the formof other devices, such as device 132 in FIG. 1, may modify dataprocessing system 200, modify data processing system 200, such as byadding a touch interface, and even eliminate certain depicted componentsfrom data processing system 200 without departing from the generaldescription of the operations and functions of data processing system200 described herein.

In the depicted example, data processing system 200 employs a hubarchitecture including North Bridge and memory controller hub (NB/MCH)202 and South Bridge and input/output (I/O) controller hub (SB/ICH) 204.Processing unit 206, main memory 208, and graphics processor 210 arecoupled to North Bridge and memory controller hub (NB/MCH) 202.Processing unit 206 may contain one or more processors and may beimplemented using one or more heterogeneous processor systems.Processing unit 206 may be a multi-core processor. Graphics processor210 may be coupled to NB/MCH 202 through an accelerated graphics port(AGP) in certain implementations.

In the depicted example, local area network (LAN) adapter 212 is coupledto South Bridge and I/O controller hub (SB/ICH) 204. Audio adapter 216,keyboard and mouse adapter 220, modem 222, read only memory (ROM) 224,universal serial bus (USB) and other ports 232, and PCI/PCIe devices 234are coupled to South Bridge and I/O controller hub 204 through bus 238.Hard disk drive (HDD) or solid-state drive (SSD) 226 and CD-ROM 230 arecoupled to South Bridge and I/O controller hub 204 through bus 240.PCI/PCIe devices 234 may include, for example, Ethernet adapters, add-incards, and PC cards for notebook computers. PCI uses a card buscontroller, while PCIe does not. ROM 224 may be, for example, a flashbinary input/output system (BIOS). Hard disk drive 226 and CD-ROM 230may use, for example, an integrated drive electronics (IDE), serialadvanced technology attachment (SATA) interface, or variants such asexternal-SATA (eSATA) and micro-SATA (mSATA). A super I/O (SIO) device236 may be coupled to South Bridge and I/O controller hub (SB/ICH) 204through bus 238.

Memories, such as main memory 208, ROM 224, or flash memory (not shown),are some examples of computer usable storage devices. Hard disk drive orsolid state drive 226, CD-ROM 230, and other similarly usable devicesare some examples of computer usable storage devices including acomputer usable storage medium.

An operating system runs on processing unit 206. The operating systemcoordinates and provides control of various components within dataprocessing system 200 in FIG. 2. The operating system may be acommercially available operating system such as AIX® (AIX is a trademarkof International Business Machines Corporation in the United States andother countries), Microsoft® Windows® (Microsoft and Windows aretrademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and othercountries), Linux® (Linux is a trademark of Linus Torvalds in the UnitedStates and other countries), iOS™ (iOS is a trademark of Cisco Systems,Inc. licensed to Apple Inc. in the United States and in othercountries), or Android™ (Android is a trademark of Google Inc., in theUnited States and in other countries). An object oriented programmingsystem, such as the Java™ programming system, may run in conjunctionwith the operating system and provide calls to the operating system fromJava™ programs or applications executing on data processing system 200(Java and all Java-based trademarks and logos are trademarks orregistered trademarks of Oracle Corporation and/or its affiliates).

Instructions for the operating system, the object-oriented programmingsystem, and applications or programs, such as application 105,application 113, or application 134 in FIG. 1, are located on storagedevices, such as hard disk drive 226, and may be loaded into at leastone of one or more memories, such as main memory 208, for execution byprocessing unit 206. The processes of the illustrative embodiments maybe performed by processing unit 206 using computer implementedinstructions, which may be located in a memory, such as, for example,main memory 208, read only memory 224, or in one or more peripheraldevices.

The hardware in FIGS. 1-2 may vary depending on the implementation.Other internal hardware or peripheral devices, such as flash memory,equivalent non-volatile memory, or optical disk drives and the like, maybe used in addition to or in place of the hardware depicted in FIGS.1-2. In addition, the processes of the illustrative embodiments may beapplied to a multiprocessor data processing system.

In some illustrative examples, data processing system 200 may be apersonal digital assistant (PDA), which is generally configured withflash memory to provide non-volatile memory for storing operating systemfiles and/or user-generated data. A bus system may comprise one or morebuses, such as a system bus, an I/O bus, and a PCI bus. Of course, thebus system may be implemented using any type of communications fabric orarchitecture that provides for a transfer of data between differentcomponents or devices attached to the fabric or architecture.

A communications unit may include one or more devices used to transmitand receive data, such as a modem or a network adapter. A memory may be,for example, main memory 208 or a cache, such as the cache found inNorth Bridge and memory controller hub 202. A processing unit mayinclude one or more processors or CPUs.

The depicted examples in FIGS. 1-2 and above-described examples are notmeant to imply architectural limitations. For example, data processingsystem 200 also may be a tablet computer, laptop computer, or telephonedevice in addition to taking the form of a mobile or wearable device.

With reference to FIG. 3, this figure depicts a map with an examplesocial media based weighted route selection in accordance with anillustrative embodiment. Map 302 and route 304 thereon are presentedusing mapping application 111 or 136 in FIG. 1.

An embodiment executing in application 113 or 134, respectively, in FIG.1, selects a set of POIs along route 304. POIs 306 and 308 are twoexamples of the selected POIs.

A marker, e.g., a graphical icon depicts the POIs on route 304. Forexample, the album-shaped icons at POIs 306 and 308, and other such POIsalong route 304, indicate to the user that a set of one or more albumsis associated with those POIs.

When selecting the POIs along route 304, an embodiment considers notonly the places through which route 304 passes, such as POIs 306 and308, but also POIs that are proximate to route 304, e.g., POI 310. Anembodiment selects an off-route POI, such as POI 310, by searching forplaces that are within a defined distance from route 304 and for whichsocial information relevant to a user's travel is available from theuser's social media.

For example, the embodiment selects an arbitrary area around route 304,such as the entirety of map 302, finds all POIs in that area, searchesthe user's social media for relevant social information about thosePOIs, and shortlists those POIs that are within a distance-from-routethreshold and have relevant social information available. The embodimentremoves the other non-shortlisted off-route POIs from consideration, andpresents the shortlisted off-route POIs on map 302 proximate to route304 with a marker and a corresponding set of album.

With reference to FIG. 4, this figure depicts a manner of presenting analbum of relevant social information related to a POI in accordance withan illustrative embodiment. Map 402 and route 404 are examples of map302 and route 304, respectively, in FIG. 3.

A graphical marker or other comparably usable artifact at POI 406 allowsthe user to access an album of relevant social information about the POIcollected from the user's social media. For example, when the userclicks the graphical marker, or otherwise interacts with a comparableartifact at POI, an application implementing an embodiment presents theuser with view 412 of an album of the POI.

Album 412 can include any number and type of information. For example,social information 414 may be an image, a photograph, a graphic, anaudio file, or a video file. As another example, social information 416may be textual comment, an image containing text, or a link to aresource on a network.

In one embodiment, view 412 combines the contents of several albums. Theembodiment then presents view 412, which can include social content in avariety of categories. For example, one embodiment visibly delimits onecategory from another category in view 412 when social information frommultiple categories is presented in view 412.

Another example embodiment allows a user to select a category withinview 412, such as from a category selection mechanism (not shown), andmodifies view 412 to present the social information in the selectedcategory. In another embodiment, view 412 includes social informationfrom a single album and allows the user to step through, switch to, orotherwise navigate to other albums.

The example manners of presenting view 412 are not intended to belimiting on the illustrative embodiments. From this disclosure, those ofordinary skill in the art will be able to conceive many other ways ofpresenting albums of social information from the user's own trustedsocial groups, and the same are contemplated within the scope of theillustrative embodiments.

User interface (UI) 420, presented by an embodiment, allows theembodiment to determine user's social preferences. For example, block422 allows the user to select one or more social media sources, socialgroups therein, or a combination thereof, from which to collect thesocial information. The social information collected about a POI fromthe selected social media sources is then organized, categorized,weighted, and presented as album, such as album 412 of POI 406.

Similarly, block 424 allows a user to indicate an objective of the tripplanned with route 404, e.g., whether the trip is for business orpleasure. Furthermore, block 424 allows the user to specify thecategories of social information in which the user is interested.

Note that more than one objectives are selectable and more than onecategories under one or more objectives are also selectable.Furthermore, an overt selection of some example trip objectives isdepicted only for clarity and not as a requirement of an embodiment. Animplementation of block 424 may omit the selection methods for selectingtrip objectives.

Additionally, the categories depicted in block 424 are only non-limitingexamples used for the clarity of the description and not to imply alimitation on the illustrative embodiments. Categories depicted in animplementation of block 424 can be default categories adopted by anapplication implementing an embodiment, categories previously configuredin the application by the user, categories defined at the time ofdetermining route 404 or thereafter, or a combination thereof.

The particular depiction of UI 420 is also not intended to be limitingon the illustrative embodiments. The purpose of UI 420—to provide theuser a way to specify or indicate certain choices and socialpreferences—can be implemented in any suitable manner without departingthe scope of the illustrative embodiments.

With reference to FIG. 5, this figure depicts a block diagram of anotherexample manner of collecting a user's social preferences and choices inaccordance with an illustrative embodiment. UI 520 is an example of UI420 in FIG. 4.

As described elsewhere in this disclosure, a user can indicate arelative liking or disliking, relative desirability or undesirability,relative importance or unimportance, and other similarly purposedrelative valuations amongst the selections that the user indicates asthe user's social preferences. Such valuations of the selected socialpreferences are relative to one another. For example, when a userindicates that the user likes the information on museums to a certainlevel of liking, the user is indicating that the user's liking for thatinformation is relative to another type or category of information,e.g., information about food, which the user may like more than or lessthan the information about museums.

Only as an example, and not to imply any limitation thereto, therelative value, preference, or weight of a selection on UI 520 can beimplemented using one or more of a variety of scale mechanisms. Forexample, in block 522, the user can indicate the relative credibility,trust, or liking that the user places in one particular source of socialinformation over another source of social information.

As in the depicted example, a value that the user places in a particularsocial media in block 522 can be selected using scale 522A, which isdepicted as a sliding scale mechanism of one type. Within the socialmedia, the user may weigh the social information from different socialgroups differently. Accordingly, an embodiment can present the user withscale mechanisms, such as scale mechanism 522B in the example form ofradio button control, in conjunction with the various groups that theembodiment discovers in the user's social media.

Similarly, a value that the user places in another social media, e.g., asocial network of experts of which the user is a member, in block 522can be selected using scale 522C, which is depicted as a sliding scalemechanism of another type. Any number or types of social media, andgroupings therein, can be relatively indicated in a similar manner.

Note that different types of scale mechanisms are depicted in UI 520 toillustrate a small sampling of the variety of scale mechanisms availablefor such purposes. Consistent use of a particular type of scalemechanism is contemplated within the scope of the illustrativeembodiments.

Relative indication of objectives can similarly be indicated in block524. For example, the user may use slider 524A to indicate that businessis a secondary objective of the trip and use slider 524B to indicatethat pleasure is the primary objective, or a more important objective.Any number or types of objectives can be relatively indicated in asimilar manner.

The user can also indicate relative importance of certain categories ina similar manner, whether or not the categories are identified with anyparticular objectives as depicted in FIG. 5. For example, as depicted,the user indicates that for business purposes, the user is mostinterested in information about meeting places, then food options, andleast in information about hotels. The user can further indicate thatfor pleasure purposes, the user is most interested in information aboutactivities, then historical sites, and least in information about foodoptions.

Many such social preferences are configurable in UI 520. As anotherexample social preference is the user's desire to drive off-route tovisit a POI if the POI has something that interests the user. Proximityconfiguration in block 526 allows the user to define how far the user iswilling to go off-route for such POIs. In some cases, the distanceoptions can be more sophisticated. For example, an implementation ofcontrol 526A can allow the user to specify that the farther the distanceof an off-route POI is from the route, the higher should be the categoryof the attraction or the weight of the social information about theattraction at the POI.

UI 520 can be configured to allow a user to specify the hierarchy ororder in which the collected social information should be organized. Inone embodiment, block 528 presents the user with various alternativehierarchies, such as hierarchy 528A and others, from which the user canchose a hierarchy that best fits the user's social preferences for thetrip.

Blocks 522-528 are selected and depicted in a particular manner only asnon-limiting examples. Any number of configurable social preferences andtheir relative valuations can be presented in any suitable mannerwithout departing from the scope of the illustrative embodiments.

With reference to FIG. 6, this figure depicts a flowchart of an exampleprocess for social media based weighted route selection in accordancewith an illustrative embodiment. Process 600 can be implemented inapplication 113, 134, or 105 in FIG. 1.

The application detects that one or more routes are being presented as arouting choice to a user (block 602). The application identifies a setof points of interest along a route (block 604). The applicationsearches a selected set of social media sources for socially sharedinformation about the POIs in the set (block 606).

The application categorizes the collected social information accordingto a defined hierarchy (block 608). The application creates one or morealbums for the categorized information (block 610). The applicationcomputes the weights of each such album (block 612).

When multiple routes are being presented or are possible, theapplication repeats blocks 602-610 for each such route. The applicationcomputes a rank of each route option based on a total weight of thealbums for the POIs on or off the route (block 614). The route with thehighest total weight ranks the highest, and the route with the lowesttotal weight ranks the lowest, other routes with intermediate weightsranked in between, accordingly.

The application presents the routes, route rankings, POIs, and theassociated albums to the user (block 616). The application ends process600 thereafter.

Thus, a computer implemented method, system or apparatus, and computerprogram product are provided in the illustrative embodiments for socialmedia based weighted route selection. Where an embodiment or a portionthereof is described with respect to a type of device, the computerimplemented method, system or apparatus, the computer program product,or a portion thereof, are adapted or configured for use with a suitableand comparable manifestation of that type of device.

The present invention may be a system, a method, and/or a computerprogram product. The computer program product may include a computerreadable storage medium (or media) having computer readable programinstructions thereon for causing a processor to carry out aspects of thepresent invention.

The computer readable storage medium can be a tangible device that canretain and store instructions for use by an instruction executiondevice. The computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but isnot limited to, an electronic storage device, a magnetic storage device,an optical storage device, an electromagnetic storage device, asemiconductor storage device, or any suitable combination of theforegoing. A non-exhaustive list of more specific examples of thecomputer readable storage medium includes the following: a portablecomputer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), aread-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROMor Flash memory), a static random access memory (SRAM), a portablecompact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disk (DVD),a memory stick, a floppy disk, a mechanically encoded device such aspunch-cards or raised structures in a groove having instructionsrecorded thereon, and any suitable combination of the foregoing. Acomputer readable storage medium, as used herein, is not to be construedas being transitory signals per se, such as radio waves or other freelypropagating electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic waves propagatingthrough a waveguide or other transmission media (e.g., light pulsespassing through a fiber-optic cable), or electrical signals transmittedthrough a wire.

Computer readable program instructions described herein can bedownloaded to respective computing/processing devices from a computerreadable storage medium or to an external computer or external storagedevice via a network, for example, the Internet, a local area network, awide area network and/or a wireless network. The network may comprisecopper transmission cables, optical transmission fibers, wirelesstransmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers and/oredge servers. A network adapter card or network interface in eachcomputing/processing device receives computer readable programinstructions from the network and forwards the computer readable programinstructions for storage in a computer readable storage medium withinthe respective computing/processing device.

Computer readable program instructions for carrying out operations ofthe present invention may be assembler instructions,instruction-set-architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions,machine dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions,state-setting data, or either source code or object code written in anycombination of one or more programming languages, including an objectoriented programming language such as Smalltalk, C++ or the like, andconventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C”programming language or similar programming languages. The computerreadable program instructions may execute entirely on the user'scomputer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone softwarepackage, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computeror entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario,the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through anytype of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide areanetwork (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer(for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider).In some embodiments, electronic circuitry including, for example,programmable logic circuitry, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), orprogrammable logic arrays (PLA) may execute the computer readableprogram instructions by utilizing state information of the computerreadable program instructions to personalize the electronic circuitry,in order to perform aspects of the present invention.

Aspects of the present invention are described herein with reference toflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus(systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of theinvention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented bycomputer readable program instructions.

These computer readable program instructions may be provided to aprocessor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, orother programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, suchthat the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computeror other programmable data processing apparatus, create means forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks. These computer readable program instructionsmay also be stored in a computer readable storage medium that can directa computer, a programmable data processing apparatus, and/or otherdevices to function in a particular manner, such that the computerreadable storage medium having instructions stored therein comprises anarticle of manufacture including instructions which implement aspects ofthe function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram blockor blocks.

The computer readable program instructions may also be loaded onto acomputer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other deviceto cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer,other programmable apparatus or other device to produce a computerimplemented process, such that the instructions which execute on thecomputer, other programmable apparatus, or other device implement thefunctions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block orblocks.

The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate thearchitecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementationsof systems, methods, and computer program products according to variousembodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in theflowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portionof instructions, which comprises one or more executable instructions forimplementing the specified logical function(s). In some alternativeimplementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of theorder noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in successionmay, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks maysometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon thefunctionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of theblock diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocksin the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implementedby special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specifiedfunctions or acts or carry out combinations of special purpose hardwareand computer instructions.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for social media based weighted routeselection, the method comprising: detecting, in an application using aprocessor and a memory, that a first route and a second route arepossible between two places; identifying, relative to the first route, afirst set of points of interest (POIs); collecting, by accessing asocial media source, a set of social information, wherein the set ofsocial information comprises information related to a point of interest(POI) in the set of POIs, wherein the information is shared with theuser in a social group at the social media source, wherein the user is amember of the social group; organizing a subset of the set of socialinformation into a set of categories related to the POI; assigning eachinformation in the subset of social information a corresponding weightto compute a value corresponding to each information; determining, usingthe computed values, a total value of each POI in the first set of POIs;and presenting, from the first route and the second route, that route associally preferred route which has a higher total route value, a totalroute value of the first route comprising a sum of total values of eachPOI in the first set of POIs.
 2. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: computing a first total value of a first POI in the firstset of POIs by computing a sum of a total value of all categoriesassociated with the first POI; and computing a total value of a firstcategory associated with the first POI by computing a total value of allinformation in a first subset of the set of social informationassociated with the first category.
 3. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: receiving, from a user, a source weight for the socialgroup, wherein the source weight for the social group is different froma second source weight for a second social group in a second socialmedia source, the user further being a member of the second socialgroup; and attributing, as a part of the assigning, the source weight toeach information from the subset of social information that is receivedfrom a member of the social group.
 4. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: receiving, from a user, a category weight for a category inthe set of categories, the category weight indicating a relativeimportance of the category over a second category in the set ofcategories; and attributing, as a part of the assigning, the categoryweight to each information from the subset of social information that iscategorized in the category.
 5. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: receiving, from a user, a definition of a category in theset of categories.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the definition ofthe category is applicable to the first and the second routes only. 7.The method of claim 1, further comprising: parsing a metadata of aspecific social information in the subset of social information, whereinthe parsing provides a location information usable to associate thespecific social information with the POI, and wherein the parsingprovides a subject information usable to categorize the specific socialinformation in a category from the set of categories.
 8. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising: processing, using Natural LanguageProcessing (NLP), a content of a specific social information in thesubset of social information, wherein the processing provides a locationinformation usable to associate the specific social information with thePOI, and wherein the processing provides a subject information usable tocategorize the specific social information in a category from the set ofcategories.
 9. The method of claim 1, further comprising: processing,using image recognition, a content of a specific social information inthe subset of social information, wherein the processing provides alocation information usable to associate the specific social informationwith the POI, and wherein the processing provides a subject informationusable to categorize the specific social information in a category fromthe set of categories.
 10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:presenting the subset of the set of social information as an albumassociated with the POI.
 11. The method of claim 1, wherein a first POIin the first set of POIs is separated from the first route by adistance.
 12. The method of claim 11, further comprising: selecting thefirst POI such that the distance of the first POI from the first routeis proportional to a total weight associated with all social informationrelated to the first POI.
 13. The method of claim 1, wherein the methodis embodied in a computer program product comprising one or morecomputer-readable tangible storage devices and computer-readable programinstructions which are stored on the one or more computer-readabletangible storage devices and executed by one or more processors.
 14. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the method is embodied in a computer systemcomprising one or more processors, one or more computer-readablememories, one or more computer-readable tangible storage devices andprogram instructions which are stored on the one or morecomputer-readable tangible storage devices for execution by the one ormore processors via the one or more memories and executed by the one ormore processors.
 15. A computer program product for social media basedweighted route selection, the computer program product comprising: oneor more computer-readable tangible storage devices; programinstructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices,to detect, in an application using a processor and a memory, that afirst route and a second route are possible between two places; programinstructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices,to identify, relative to the first route, a first set of points ofinterest (POIs); program instructions, stored on at least one of the oneor more storage devices, to collect, by accessing a social media source,a set of social information, wherein the set of social informationcomprises information related to a point of interest (POI) in the set ofPOIs, wherein the information is shared with the user in a social groupat the social media source, wherein the user is a member of the socialgroup; program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or morestorage devices, to organize a subset of the set of social informationinto a set of categories related to the POI; program instructions,stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices, to assigneach information in the subset of social information a correspondingweight to compute a value corresponding to each information; programinstructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices,to determine, using the computed values, a total value of each POI inthe first set of POIs; and program instructions, stored on at least oneof the one or more storage devices, to present, from the first route andthe second route, that route as socially preferred route which has ahigher total route value, a total route value of the first routecomprising a sum of total values of each POI in the first set of POIs.16. The computer program product of claim 15, further comprising:program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storagedevices, to compute a first total value of a first POI in the first setof POIs by computing a sum of a total value of all categories associatedwith the first POI; and program instructions, stored on at least one ofthe one or more storage devices, to compute a total value of a firstcategory associated with the first POI by computing a total value of allinformation in a first subset of the set of social informationassociated with the first category.
 17. The computer program product ofclaim 15, further comprising: program instructions, stored on at leastone of the one or more storage devices, to receive, from a user, asource weight for the social group, wherein the source weight for thesocial group is different from a second source weight for a secondsocial group in a second social media source, the user further being amember of the second social group; and program instructions, stored onat least one of the one or more storage devices, to attribute, as a partof the assigning, the source weight to each information from the subsetof social information that is received from a member of the socialgroup.
 18. The computer program product of claim 15, further comprising:program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storagedevices, to receive, from a user, a category weight for a category inthe set of categories, the category weight indicating a relativeimportance of the category over a second category in the set ofcategories; and program instructions, stored on at least one of the oneor more storage devices, to attribute, as a part of the assigning, thecategory weight to each information from the subset of socialinformation that is categorized in the category.
 19. The computerprogram product of claim 15, further comprising: program instructions,stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices, to receive,from a user, a definition of a category in the set of categories.
 20. Acomputer system for social media based weighted route selection, thecomputer system comprising: one or more processors, one or morecomputer-readable memories and one or more computer-readable storagedevices; program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or morestorage devices for execution by at least one of the one or moreprocessors via at least one of the one or more memories, to detect, inan application using a processor and a memory, that a first route and asecond route are possible between two places; program instructions,stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices for executionby at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of theone or more memories, to identify, relative to the first route, a firstset of points of interest (POIs); program instructions, stored on atleast one of the one or more storage devices for execution by at leastone of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or morememories, to collect, by accessing a social media source, a set ofsocial information, wherein the set of social information comprisesinformation related to a point of interest (POI) in the set of POIs,wherein the information is shared with the user in a social group at thesocial media source, wherein the user is a member of the social group;program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storagedevices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors viaat least one of the one or more memories, to organize a subset of theset of social information into a set of categories related to the POI;program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storagedevices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors viaat least one of the one or more memories, to assign each information inthe subset of social information a corresponding weight to compute avalue corresponding to each information; program instructions, stored onat least one of the one or more storage devices for execution by atleast one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one ormore memories, to determine, using the computed values, a total value ofeach POI in the first set of POIs; and program instructions, stored onat least one of the one or more storage devices for execution by atleast one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one ormore memories, to present, from the first route and the second route,that route as socially preferred route which has a higher total routevalue, a total route value of the first route comprising a sum of totalvalues of each POI in the first set of POIs.